War ships

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War ships (English: War-ships or War-standards) refers to a group of cargo and auxiliary ships that were built during and after the First World War and were in the service of the British government. The name is derived from the ship's name, which with a few exceptions began with "War".

history

The group of war ships is largely made up of various standardized newbuildings that were built in government building programs in Great Britain, Hong Kong and China , or built and purchased abroad ( United States , Canada and Japan ). The construction program included numerous types and types of ship , from small tugs to all types of freighters and coastal ships to tankers . In addition, support ships as well as barges and barges of various sizes were in the program. In a broader sense, a number of concrete ship designs are also part of the War building program, but due to their special design, these were given the prefix “Crete”, which differs from the normal name. The lion's share of the war ships were under the responsibility of the shipping controller , but the actual operation of the ships was in most cases transferred to existing shipping companies. A total of 821 ships were ordered (not counting buildings from the United States), of which 416 were completed on government orders between 1917 and 1920. 279 started ships were transferred to private clients during construction, the remaining orders were canceled.

A number of shipyards continued to build ships according to standardized War designs in later (often numerous) years , but these structures, although of the same type, do not belong in the strict sense to the actual group of War ships.

The British standard marine types

Type "A"

The type "A" was a bulk cargo steamer without an intermediate deck in a three-island design . It was designed by the D. and W. Henderson and Company shipyard in Glasgow and built by numerous British shipyards as well as in Northern Ireland.

Origin / shipyards:

Type "A"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
125.58 m 15.85 m 7.62 m 8175 ts 1917 to 1920

Type "B"

The type "B" was a three-island cargo steamer with two decks. It was also designed by the D. and W. Henderson and Company shipyard and, with the exception of the additional intermediate deck, corresponded to type "A", which made it better suited for the transport of mixed and general cargo. This type was built by the largest number of shipyards, including those in Hong Kong and China.

Origin / shipyards:

Type "B"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
125.58 m 15.85 m 7.64 m 8075 ts 1917 to 1920

Type "C"

The design for the type "C" came from the Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Company from Newcastle. Compared to the type "A", it was a slightly smaller single-deck cargo steamer in a three-island design designed for the transport of bulk goods. This type was also built in shipyards in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Hong Kong and China.

Origin / shipyards:

Type "C"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
104.24 m 14.17 m 6.60 m 5050 ts 1917 to 1921

Type "C" (modified)

The Burntisland Shipbuilding Company delivered a slightly modified design of the type "C" which was created from August 1918 exclusively at a newly established shipyard near Rossend Castle on the Firth of Forth.

Type "C"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
104.24 m 14.17 m 6.60 m 5400 ts August 1918 to February 1920 3

Type "D"

In February 1917, the shipping controller commissioned the SP Austin & Sons shipyard in Sunderland to design a type of necklace that was later listed as the type "D".

Origin / shipyards:

Type "D"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
86.87 m 12.72 m 5.79 m 2980 ts 1918 to 1919 27

Type "E"

The type "E" was a tramp steamer with an intermediate deck . Designed by the Robert Duncan and Company shipyard in Glasgow, it was also built by two other shipyards.

Type "E"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
114.60 m 15.71 m 7.24 m 7020 ts 1918 to 1920 5

Type "F"

The type "F" was a tramp steamer with an intermediate deck . Designed by the shipyard Joseph L. Thompson and Sons in Sunderland, it was only built by the shipyard William Doxford & Sons located in the same city .

Type "F"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
124.42 m 16.91 m 8.72 m 10,795 ts Late 1918 to early 1920 12

Type "F1"

The type "F1" was a shelter deck tramp steamer. It was designed and built exclusively by the Northumberland Shipbuilding Company in Howden on Tyne.

Type "F1"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
121.92 m 16.15 m 7.02 m 9000 ts October 1918 to June 1920 13

Type "G"

The ships built as type "G" were a construction of the Northern Irish shipyard Workman, Clark . Originally developed as general cargo ships with cooling devices for the transport of meat, the individual units varied greatly in their equipment, since all but one of them were only completed after the end of the First World War. The ships that had been started were sold while they were still being built and so adapted by their later shipping companies to their own needs.

Origin / shipyards:

Type "G"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
141.73 m 17.68 m 8.84 m 10,800 ts September 1918 to December 1920 22nd

Type "H"

The type "H" was a single deck cargo steamer designed by SP Austin & Sons in Bishop's Wearmouth, Sunderland. The shipyard was not commissioned with the design by the shipping controller until late in the war, so that most of the units were not completed until after the end of the war.

Origin / shipyards:

Type "H"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
92.35 m 13.11 m 5.94 m 3860 ts Late 1918 to November 1920 32

"385 feet 'tweendecker" type

The "385 feet 'tweendecker" type was built exclusively by the Russel & Company shipyard in Port Glasgow, which also designed the tramp steamer with a tween deck.

"385 feet 'tweendecker" type
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
117.35 m 15.85 m 7.32 m 7520 ts 1918 to December 1920 9

Type National or "N"

The national or "N" type was a special feature of the construction program. This tramp steamer design with a tween deck was developed by Harland & Wolff as a "fabricated ship". The steel construction was designed so that one could commission non-specialist steel construction companies, such as bridge builders, with the creation of prefabricated ("fabricated") components. The hull consisted of the greatest possible number of straight components and sections and had, for example, no crack , just a simple kiming up and numerous other shipbuilding simplifications.

Origin / shipyards:

Type National or "N"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
130.45 m 16.90 m 8.53 m 10,500 ts 1918 to late 1920 34

Type "AO"

The type "AO" was a tank steamer developed from the cargo steamer type "A". The conversion to a tanker was achieved through additional cylindrical tanks in the hold, the use of double-bottom and deep tanks for oil intake as well as appropriate equipment and was designed by the Sir James Laing and Sons shipyard in Sunderland. The conversion of existing Type "A" ships was carried out by numerous British shipyards.

Origin / shipyards:

Type "AO"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
125.58 m 15.85 m 7.64 m 7885 ts 1918 to early 1920 39 converted type "A" freighter

Type "BO"

The tank steamer type "BO" was also a conversion from a freight steamer, in this case from the type "B". As with the "AO" type, the conversion to a tanker was carried out by installing additional cylindrical tanks in the hold, preparing the double-bottom and deep tanks for holding the oil, as well as appropriate equipment. The only tanker conversion made in this way was built and converted by the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank.

Type "BO"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
125.58 m 15.85 m 7.64 m 7885 ts Late 1918 / early 1919 1 converted type "B" freighter

Type "Z"

The type "Z" was a tank steamer developed by the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard in Newcastle from the tank steamer conversion type "AO". The main difference between the “Z” tanker and the conversion type “AO” was the design of the hold as a pure tank room. In detail, this meant that a double floor and side tanks were dispensed with and an expansion tank designed as a continuous "trunk" (trunk deck) was provided amidships. Furthermore, the oil tank space was divided by a central bulkhead and a few transverse bulkheads. Furthermore, a corresponding tanker equipment was installed. Outwardly, the difference to the "AO" type was mainly recognizable in the raised trunk deck and the low port deck due to the lack of side tanks.

Origin / shipyards:

Type "Z"
length width Draft Load capacity construction time number comment
125.58 m 15.85 m 7.64 m 8460 ts 1918 to early 1920 33 Further development of type "AO"

The British standard coastal ship types

The coastal ships used during the First World War on behalf of the British government were divided into seven groups of "CS" (Coaster, Standard). Contrary to the name, they are not only composed of standard ship types, but have also been replenished in significant numbers with existing ships and types of other types. The coastal ship groups began with the smallest type "C1", a small coastal steamer with a load capacity of around 400 tons and aft superstructures up to the type "C7", a protective decker with a three-island design that carries between 2 and 3000 tons. In addition, there were special types such as necklaces . The coastal ships were built by numerous British shipyards as well as in Ireland.

The Crete Ships

In the course of the construction program for the War ships, a number of tugs and barges made of steel-reinforced concrete were built. Deviating from the usual designation beginning with the prefix War , their names were introduced with Crete (from English "concrete" for concrete), but they were otherwise part of the British government's war construction program.

Standard ship types from the United States

Since the noticeable shortage of trading tonnage from the summer of 1915 could not be compensated for with newbuildings in British shipyards alone, Great Britain began looking for compensation in other shipbuilding nations. The lion's share of the construction orders went to US shipyards, with a volume of 750,000 tons by March 1917. The British government placed its new construction orders for shipyards in the United States mainly through intermediaries, and mostly through the Cunard Steam-Ship Company Limited. After the USA entered the war in April 1917, they also requisitioned the majority of the ships under construction or completed but not delivered for Great Britain. Nevertheless, a small number of completed ships, a total of eleven steel structures and two wooden ships were handed over to Great Britain from August 3, 1917.

The ships ordered from shipyards on the US West Coast consisted of the following types:

  • 11,800 tdw type
  • 10,000 tdw type
  • 9400 tdw type
  • 8800 tdw type
  • 7500 tdw type

The types emerged on the Atlantic coast:

  • 12,5800 tdw type
  • 10.100 tdw type
  • 10,000 tdw type
  • 8800 tdw type
  • 8500 tdw type
  • 7400/7500 tdw type
  • 7300 tdw type
  • 6200 tdw type
  • 4350 tdw type
  • 4000 tdw type
  • 3500 tdw type

In addition, the Great Lakes were built:

  • 3500 tdw type
  • 3300 tdw type
  • 3100 tdw type
  • 2930 tdw type

In addition, two particularly noteworthy steamships were built at the National Shipbuilding Company in Orange, Texas, the two wooden 4850 tdw units War Mystery and War Marvel .

In the case of buildings from the USA, too, it must be noted that, in some cases, groups recorded under the same type of shipyards produced independent designs.

Standard ship types from Canada

The British Imperial Munitions Board commissioned 87 newbuildings from Canadian shipyards, 39 made of steel and 48 wooden structures. The high proportion of wooden ships can be explained on the one hand by the lack of steel in the Canadian war economy, on the other hand by Canada's abundance of wood.

The steel ships ordered in Canada consist of the following types of construction:

  • 8800 tdw type
  • 7200 tdw type
  • 4600 tdw type
  • 4300 tdw type
  • 3500 tdw type
  • 2900 tdw type
  • 2400 tdw type
  • 1800 tdw type

In addition, a common 3300 tdw wooden ship type was built at 15 shipyards, in which, analogous to the American wooden structures, it must be noted that different shipyards created independent designs.

Standard ship types from Japan

In Japan, the construction of standard ships of 3000, 7500 and 10,000 tons deadweight began around 1915. During the war, a total of 216 units of six main types were built, smaller shipyards usually supplied different designs. Great Britain received 20 of these standard ships from Japanese shipyards.

literature

  • WH Mitchell, LA Sawyer: British Standard Ships of World War 1 . Sea Breezes, Liverpool 1968.
  • PN Thomas: British Ocean Tramps: Volume 1. Builders & Cargoes . Wayne Research Publications, Wolverhampton 1992, ISBN 0-905184-13-0 .

Web links

References & comments

  1. ↑ A concept that Blohm and Voss took up again in the late 1960s with the construction of the Pioneer type